Next week is going to bring some long-awaited treats for George Romero fans.
On Tuesday, a restored version of the horror maestro’s previously lost 1973 film “The Amusement Park” will begin streaming exclusively on Shudder. A few days later, local horror enthusiasts will once again be able to enjoy the institution created specifically to honor Romero’s legacy and contributions to the genre.
The Monroeville Mall’s Living Dead Museum will finally open its Pittsburgh Horror & Movie Museum displaying memorabilia from Romero’s films and much more on June 12. Previously, only the museum’s gift shop was open as its ownership waited out the COVID-19 pandemic to the point it could make its exhibits publicly accessible again.
“Seeing Pittsburgh and more specifically the Monroeville Mall get the credit and respect as being the origin point to the zombie archetype and home to the modern horror movie is what drives us to rebuild and expand our attraction,” Kevin Kriess, the owner and curator of Living Dead Museum, said in a press release.
“Recent years have seen more calls for a horror museum in the Pittsburgh area and we are ready to answer that call with this new expanded version of the Living Dead Museum.”
Kriess was forced to close the Evans City Living Dead Museum last fall due to pandemic-related financial constraints. He had already been working on the expanded Monroeville Mall location and decided to consolidate all his monuments to horror movie history there.
In addition to finally being able to check out the full Living Dead Museum, patrons who show up on grand opening day will also have an opportunity to meet Lenny Lies, aka the “machete zombie” from Romero’s 1978 zombie classic “Dawn of the Dead” filmed in the Monroeville Mall.
Horror aficionados will be able to peruse the museum’s collection of screen-used props from “Dawn of the Dead,” including the original JCPenney elevator and escalator used in the film; camera lights used during the production of 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead”; set pieces like a cabin and shed from Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead 2”; props and set decoration from the Pittsburgh-filmed Netflix show “Mindhunter”; and other swag from both horror movies and locally shot projects.
Fans of the museum’s previous iteration in Evans City can rest assured that legacy exhibits like the zombie timeline and celebrity maul of fame will also still be around at Monroeville Mall.
For those gearing up to make the pilgrimage, the Living Dead Museum is located on the Monroeville Mall’s upper level near JCPenney and is only open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 8 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.
First Published: June 4, 2021, 4:59 p.m.
